Richard Gasquet Headlines Field At Kooyong Classic

The Frenchman will be making a third straight appearance at the Melbourne exhibition looking to win his first title.

Richard Gasquet is among one of the headlining names at next year’s Kooyong Classic. The tournament is an exhibition tournament played in January and is one of the lead-up events to the Australian Open. It takes place the week before the Australian Open. The tournament is run a promotion/relegation format with players losing in the first round dropping to a consolation bracket. However, last year, they did not do that, with the tournament deciding to place five through eight by how many games or sets a player won in their opening round match.

Other Big Names Join Gasquet

Gasquet will be joined by three other top 20 players in the tournament. Feliciano Lopez, David Goffin, and Gasquet’s countryman Gilles Simon will all be partaking in the tournament as well. Lopez is returning for a second consecutive year and is looking to better his sixth place finish last year.

Simon and Gasquet are making their third consecutive appearance in the Melbourne exhibition. The French number one has made at least the semifinals in both of his appearances and was a finalist back in 2014. Simon on the other hand was a seventh-placed finisher last year but made the semifinals last year.

Goffin will be making his tournament debut. A couple of other veterans will be joining the fray as well. Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis and Spaniard Nicolas Almagro will be joining the tournament as well. Baghdatis will be making his third appearance, playing in 2008 and 2013. On the other hand, Almagro will be making his debut

Young Guns On Hand As Well

Hometown favorite Nick Kyrgios will be on hand as well as some other rising stars. Alexander Zverev, Hyeon Chung, Kyle Edmund, and Pablo Carreño Busta will be on hand at the event as well. Kyrgios appeared at the event in 2014 and finished 10th. For Zverev, it will be the second straight week of exhibition play since he will be playing the Hopman Cup to start the season.